Triple H recently talked about the WWE Cruiserweight division possibly blending in with NXT and having the Cruiserweight Championship move under the NXT brand. That change went into effect this week, as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship has been re-branded as the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on WWE.com.
Plus on last night’s NXT, they promoted a Crusierweight Championship for next week’s NXT between Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak and Lio Rush, by referring to the title at the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
Tommaso Ciampa made his highly-anticipated return to NXT on last night.
The former NXT Champion resurfaced in dramatic fashion this evening following the conclusion of the main event tag team title match – which ended due to interference from Roderick Strong.
Adam Cole hit the stage after the match was over to congratulate his stablemates, when suddenly Ciampa’s music and the Blackheart stared him down as the show came to a close.
Ciampa was forced to relinquish the NXT Championship (a.k.a., Goldie) after undergoing anterior cervical fusion surgery back in March. He was then replaced in main event of NXT TakeOver: New York by Adam Cole, who lost to Johnny Gargano in a two-out-of-three falls match for the vacant title.
Former NXT Champion Finn Bálor made a surprise return to WWE NXT last night.
Bálor confronted current NXT Champion Adam Cole following his victory over Matt Riddle in the opening match.
Bálor proclaimed – “As of now, Finn Bálor is NXT.”
Bálor’s last NXT match was on 30 July 2016, when he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe. The former Universal Champion recently went on a hiatus from the main roster after losing to “The Fiend” at SummerSlam.
There’s now speculation on The Bella Twins possibly returning to WWE TV on Friday’s SmackDown FOX premiere from Los Angeles.
Nikki and sister Brie Bella participated in a special photo shoot on Tuesday, and Nikki posted a video to her Instagram Stories that is fueling the return rumors. You can see that video below.
“OK, doing a super fun soot today. It’s a surprise, can’t wait to tell all about it,” she said. She continued and pointed at a piece of her ring gear, adding, “I might have to wear that Friday. But yeah, so many surprises.”
Nikki later wrote in another IG post that featured her inside of a boxing ring, “little sneak peek”
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon is making the media rounds this week to promote Friday’s big WWE SmackDown FOX premiere from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. As seen below, McMahon appeared on FS1’s First Things First program earlier today, with hosts Cris Carter, Nick Wright and Jenna Wolfe.
Stephanie was asked what the new FOX partnership means for WWE, and how exciting this time of year is for them. She said the partnership has been years in the making, if not destined to be, and the two companies are a perfect match.
“Words really can’t describe how excited we are,” Stephanie said. “This is a partnership that I think has been many, many years in the making, if not destined to be. FOX is the best at live television, the best at sports, the best at events, and I like to think that WWE is the same. So, we’re, I think, a perfect match. A perfect tag team, if you will.”
Carter noted how WWE has done a great job at re-branding, and asked Stephanie how to explain WWE to newcomers to try and generate more interest in Friday’s show, and why they should tune in. Stephanie said fans tuning in for the first time will see something they’ve never seen before, a true spectacle.
“They’re going to see something that they’ve never seen before,” she said. “It truly is a spectacle and it is the best combination of sports and entertainment. So, you break down the storytelling piece – it’s no different than anything else that’s out there. It’s protagonist vs. antagonist, with conflict resolution. The only difference is our conflicts are settled inside a 20×20 foot ring, with some of the greatest live action that you can see, in any sport or entertainment property.”
Stephanie and Triple H currently have three daughters together – 13 year old Aurora Rose, 11 year old Murphy Claire, and 9 year old Vaughn Evelyn. Carter asked Stephanie if she would encourage their daughters to get involved with the business once they were of age, and that’s when she revealed that Aurora has already started training for an in-ring career one day.
“My oldest daughter has already started training,” Stephanie revealed. “And I would encourage them to follow their passion, you know, whatever they believe in, as long as they work hard at it. I believe in a strong work ethic and I believe they can do anything in the world they wanna do, but they’re gonna have to believe in themselves and work hard.”
Stephanie also promoted The Rock’s big return to TV on Friday’s SmackDown FOX premiere, which will also be the SmackDown 20th Anniversary special.
“Absolutely, The Rock is going to be there on Friday, on Friday Night SmackDown,” she said. “This Friday, live on FOX at 8pm ET, and he’s going to layeth the smacketh down on the entire audience. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to do.”
Finally, Stephanie was asked if she plans on making a return to the ring.
“Well, I can’t give that away,” she laughed. “Anything can happen in WWE. Mother – daughter tag team? No, it’s not… but maybe.”
The hosts ended the interview by welcoming Stephanie and WWE to the FOX family. She said it’s her privilege to be a part of the family. She also talked about WWE changing the women’s division during the Women’s Revolution, female Superstars headlining WrestleMania 35, and more during the interview.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio give their thoughts on the new changes to WWE RAW, including the updated set and the new commentary team.
Meltzer thought that Jerry “The King” Lawler stole the show amongst the RAW announce team that includes Vic Josesph and Dio Maddin. He said Lawler was very strong in getting over the angles.
WWE has announced a big Team Flair vs. Team Hogan ten-man tag match for WWE Crown Jewel 2019 in Saudi Arabia.
WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan will be the two coaches for the teams. Hogan’s Team Captain is WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, while Randy Orton will be the Team Captain for Team Flair. The match was announced during MizTV on tonight’s RAW season premiere.
Crown Jewel 2019, which will air on the WWE Network, will take place on Halloween, Thursday, October 31, from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Others advertised for the event are The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, WWE United States Champion AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, Big E, Xavier Woods, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Rey Mysterio and Mansoor Al-Shehail.
Crown Jewel 2019 will be a part of “Riyadh Season” that runs from October 15 through December 15. The Saudis will be holding 11 festivals during these two months, as a way to boost domestic and international tourism in the country, and Crown Jewel will be a part of the festivals. This will be WWE’s fourth big event under their ten-year deal with the Saudi General Sports Authority.
Regarding the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match, Orton and Rollins will announce their partners over the next few weeks. Rusev will be on Team Hogan while King Baron Corbin is on Team Flair.
WWE Raw this week ended with the returns of Bobby Lashley and Lana whose surprise appearance together included an uncomfortably long steamy makeout session.
This week’s Raw was originally scheduled to feature Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio in the main event. Mysterio and his son Dominick was taken out by Brock Lesnar at the top of show and was later replaced by Rusev.
Mid-way through the match, while cutting to commercial, a limousine was shown pulling up.
The match ultimately came to a no-contest ending when Lashley’s music hit and he hit the stage to taunt Rusev. Moments later, Lana joined Bobby onstage and they started their long steamy kissing session as Lana’s husband Rusev watched from the ring.
Finally … The Rock has confirmed he’ll appear on FOX this week for the premiere of SmackDown.
The Great One made the much-anticipated announcement via Twitter and it was announced on last night’s RAW.
“FINALLY…I come back home to my [WWE] universe,” The Rock wrote, before vowing to buy everyone a tequila after the show.
Friday Night SmackDown will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the blue brand in just a few days. The Rock will be joined in the Staples Center by fellow WWE legends such as Hulk Hogan, Sting, Mick Foley, Booker T, Ric Flair, Goldberg and Lita.
